The NBA Draft isn't until Thursday night, but Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee took a page from Jay Bilas' Book of Draft Lingo at a press conference Wednesday afternoon to introduce Adam Oates as the 16th head coach of the Washington Capitals franchise.

#Caps GMGM says they wanted to a higher a guy with the "most upside", "difference maker"

— Sky Kerstein (@SkyKerstein) June 27, 2012

That's right, McPhee's already into our yearly quota of "upside!' Somebody get the trademark attorneys ready!

There wasn't much in the way of earth-shattering news Wednesday afternoon. There was more gushing on the part of McPhee about Oates.

McPhee on Oates: "I really like the way he wants to play the game, how he's going to practice, how he's going to run the bench."

— David Elfin (@davidelfin) June 27, 2012

Then there were some words from the man himself, beginning with an explanation of why the process took so long.

#Caps Oates says he got a call from the Caps a couple days after the #Devils had been eliminated

— Sky Kerstein (@SkyKerstein) June 27, 2012

Also, there were some trenchant observations.

Oates says #Caps looked like 'a hockey team' in playoffs, and are 'very close'

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 27, 2012

Looks like Oates' new charges shouldn't expect Dale Hunter hockey to completely die away, after all. And following the press conference, there was this meeting of the minds between the Verizon Center's main winter occupants.

Adam Oates & Wizards Coach Randy Wittman meeting each other for the first time after today's press conferenc instagr.am/p/MY7U0LyGrF/

— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) June 27, 2012

For more on the hiring of Adam Oates, visit SB Nation's Capitals blog, Japers Rink. For the latest news and notes from around the NHL, visit SB Nation's NHL hub page.